The Reserve Bank of Australia released the minutes of its most recent board meeting held on November 4, at which they handed down the decision to cut official rates by 0.75% to 5.25%.
The five pages of minutes made for gloomy reading, with hardly any positive indicators noted either in Australia or overseas. As such it was hardly any wonder that the board cut rates by 75 bps -- maybe the real surprise was that they didn't go further.
All eyes will now be on the Reserve's next meeting due to be held on Tuesday, December 2. As the Board does not usually meet in January, they will need to make a decision then to carry through Christmas and the January holiday period.
No one in the market will be surprised to see a further 75 bps, or even a full 1% cut at that stage, given that the outlook described in the board's minutes does not seem to be improving.
